I don’t think the V3 has a real time clock. It’s not got GPS so no absolute reference. Could be done relative to switch on time of course. I think the real solution is to have an adequately sized solar panel that is properly installed. Remember those long dark nights and lack of daytime sunlight in the winter. And also snow on the panel.
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Hi Matthew, I have created a very remote SDR/LoRa igate station in the middle of nowhere, 1500ft ASL in GW/MW. Through-out the summer it works very well, even in Wales, where we have had limited sun over the past 2 years! But, in the winter, I have 3 months where the battery dies and everything shuts down. I could potentially keep swapping batteries through-out the winter months, but I’m too lazy to be driving up a hill once or twice a week, which takes 45 minutes each time 
My setup consists of a 235w large solar panel, feeding a 12v 110ah battery, which powers my 4G router, SDR and Igate. This summer, I have decided to take my SDR offline, and just concentrate on the LoRa Igate and 4G router, just hoping that the lack of sun in UK wintertime will be enough to keep just the Igate and router functioning.
To save power, I purchased a 12v electronic timer clock, see link below, and wired this into my circuit. I set it, so at 01:00 normal time, the timer shut everything off, and then at 06:00 it switched back on. This made a massive difference in winter time! You can then leave it in line, and once spring months hit, I just put it in manual mode which just keeps everything running 24/7.
Mine has been on the hill for at least 4 years, and I’ve always had issues in the winter, even with putting two 235w solar panels in parallel to one another, and two 12v 110ah batteries, it manages to die after awhile running 24/7.
I hope this feedback helps - this year I only plan to run the Igate, so less amperage will be taken on the wet cloudy dark winter days. We will see how it performs, and hopefully doesn’t die so soon!
73, Ben
GW4BML
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ITYM current
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I was wondering about your setup Ben, thanks for that info, really useful. I also hadn’t realised it had been up there for so long…
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@M7SDO I’ve updated it slightly over the past couple of months to mainly concentrate on the LoRa Igate. Both large antennas have been dismantled, and I have put a Diamond X30 on top of the larger mast for the Igate.
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If you set up a digipeater without internet access the battery should last much longer but you will still need a large enough solar panel. Of course this assumes it is in range of an iGate.
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Thanks for the image Ben - superb location!
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That might have to be an option I thought about it, until fuel prices went through the roof! hahaa
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I saw that you were on the summit so tried sending you a message on the tracker, not sure whether it got through or not.
https://aprs.fi/?c=message&call=M5RJC-7
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Hi Peter
Yes, message received but as the tracker was in my backpack I didn’t see it till I got back home this evening and I put the unit on charge
I didn’t know aprs.fi could read out the messages, so thanks for that
Cheers
Rick
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@CA2RXU @G3CWI @M0JKS @anyone - I am having issues connecting my LoRa board to my Iphone via bluetooth. I have edited my code to read ‘0’ which is the character that supports Iphone, I have updated my Heltec LoRa board succesfully. I have selected configuration on the LoRa menu, and changed ‘BLE iphone’ to ‘ON’. Tried to pair my Iphone to the LoRa board, and I am not seeing the LoRa name appear - any ideas or am I missing something? The board I am using is the ‘Heltec HTIT-Tracker’.
Thanks in advance!
Ben
GW4BML
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The BLE pairing occurs in the APRS.fi app. It won’t show as a BlueTooth device in the normal iPhone BlueTooth list.
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Great - thanks Richard I think I’m pretty much set up now! I will try and send a message later to see if it works.
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Probably my best outing so far. Activating Earl’s Seat GM/SS-126 to the north of Glasgow, with practically the entire route recorded, except when I was behind the lump of Dumgoyne Hill. All[quote=“MM0EFI, post:79, topic:35820, full:true”]
Probably my best outing so far. Activating Earl’s Seat GM/SS-126 to the north of Glasgow, with practically the entire route recorded, except when I was behind the lump of Dumgoyne Hill. All of my transmissions were gated the two stations to the south side of Glasgow, with MB7UAH-10 being the furthest, 32km away over a very good path.
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Most of my transmissions were gated the two stations to the south side of Glasgow, with MB7UAH-10 being the furthest, 32km away over a very good path.
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My T-Beam tracker with a larger gps module, got G3SMT igate at a good distance considering the size of my mag antenna!
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Yes these make a big difference to the T-Beams.
I’ve also got the Heltec Wireless Tracker board and this comes with a larger GPS module as standard, fixed to the board… Really liking this board. In fact it will pick up more satellites (according to the screen read out) than the T-Beam does…
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